Stray Neighbour

Stray Neighbour’s owners, brothers Ben and Dan Stray, didn’t want to open just another bar serving burgers and ‘parmas. Instead, they've gone for something like what you'd find at an inner-city wine bar: refined snacks and share plates such as olives, chicken-liver pate, broccolini with confit garlic and ricotta gnocchi with sage butter. At breakfast (weekends only) the kitchen sends out a good mix of sweet and savoury dishes.

Despite the food’s considered presentation, the venue’s atmosphere pulls things back to earth. There’s a pool table tucked cleverly in a large alcove, and the booths alongside it make the space feel like a casual American diner. It even gets rowdy at times.

There are 12 beer taps, pouring everything from Carlton Draught (why alienate anyone?) to Moon Dog’s surprisingly sessionable Redskin-flavoured stout. This independent attitude is mirrored in the wine list, which includes young, small-batch producers such as Dormilona in Margaret River and Jericho in McClaren Vale.